App Happy

With iPhone apps for everything from virtual beer consumption to a
fake flu mask for your phone, we’re turning down the noise to tell you about some apps you’ll really love!

In the city or away on business (even London!), this food finder calms our restaurant-locator stress. Want to try something new for date night? Last-minute business lunch? This app finds you through GPS or you can select a location. An out-of-town friend wanted lunch in the Meatpacking District. After locking “area”, we gave the phone a little shake and the slot machine widget, which tracks neighborhood, cuisine, and price, led us to Pastis’s outdoor seating for yummy French bistro fare and sunshine.

We shop in stores, but they close. We shop online, but Googling can feel like homework. Enter the ShopStyle Mobile, an app that makes shopping more fun—who knew that was even possible?! We browse Stella McCartney and Rock & Republic, shop for totes and yes—Louboutin. With a handy tic-tac-toe grid, we tap the item, get the details, and buy or add to our wishlist for later. Modify searches with specifics (e.g., Marc Jacobs under sunglasses), sale items or specified price ranges. Can’t decide? There’s a handy BFF consultation feature—email.

Ok, we admit it. We’re competitive. To track our workout progress, this app has a built-in GPS system that records outdoor activities like running, cycling, hiking, snowboarding and walking. While running and listening to iTunes, we logged mph, distance and pace per mile, which we watched on our iPhone and uploaded to the web afterward to share the route with other avid runners. How far did you run today?

Does pairing wine with food make you feel like a deer in headlights? We love this wine app, which is also available for the BlackBerry. Select salmon with ginger and soy marinade and out pops Pinot Noir and Gewürztraminer. Or drive in reverse. Start with Tawny Port, and order an almond or chocolate dessert to go with. Not a big wine drinker? This app also pairs whisky, beer, vodka, cognac, coffee and tea with food as well. You’ll never have wine anxiety again!

For those who wish the NYC subway was as user friendly as the London tube, you’ll love this app (which is also available for the BlackBerry), that gets you in and out of the underground easily. No Internet connection in the subway required. Click on the line you’re taking, select direction, then your first stop. The app will ask if this is your final destination or if you’re transferring, and diagrams indicate exits (and hours), transfers, elevators and which subway car gets you closest. And we can store frequent commutes in favorites.

Want to be art smart? Stay current with Christie’s offerings with this app that documents upcoming auctions in 80 categories, including individual artwork descriptions, price estimates and winning bids. Whether fantasy decorator or hard-core collector, you’ll salivate over images of Bouguereau’s Chansons de printemps and the Baroda pearls. Wish you could add bottles of Romanée-Conti, vintage 1962, to your wine cellar? Save the $35,000–$50,000 estimate for the September auction, and download it as your wallpaper.

It’s Thursday night, and you were just invited to the Hamptons for the weekend. Say good-bye to packing panic with this app that has an exhaustive list of everything you’d ever need to pack from your weekend away to a month on safari. Create customized lists based on their suggestions, or use their complete array, which includes everything from skin moisturizer to a USB drive to a sewing kit. You can modify quantities (three bathing suits—we need options) and check off as you go. If you love hard copies, you can export the list to your email. You’ll never forget your sunglasses again!